When Dean Lombardi was about to hire Darryl Sutter as coach of the Los Angeles Kings, he did what all general managers must do.

He went to his boss and informed him of the move he was prepared to make.

The conversation didn’t go well.

Lombardi was told in no uncertain terms that hiring Sutter wasn’t the right move, may be “the worst decision you’ve ever made” and speculated it “will end up costing you your job.”

Lombardi, who had worked with Sutter in San Jose, made the hire he believed in nonetheless. Three years later, his coach is the envy of most in the NHL, Lombardi is running the model franchise and the Kings have two Stanley Cups under Sutter.